This is the recommended method for all Windows applications. The highlighted keys are used to insert accented characters when the international keyboard is turned on.

AdvantageOnce this feature is activated you can use it with any Windows Program: Word, WordPerfect, Netscape, Simeon. Requires only two easy to remember key strokes. Accessing the accented characters is quite easy because the characters for acute, grave, and circumflex accents and tildes have now been made into "dead" keys, which means that nothing happens immediately upon pressing the apostrophe key or another accent key. If the next key pressed is a vowel, an accented vowel will appear. For an accented a (á), for example, just type the apostrophe, then the a. For an è, type the backward apostrophe ` then the e: è. An i with a circumflex is created by typing the circumflex (shift 6: ^) then the i: î. This also works with the double quote (") for the umlaut (dieresis) and the tilde (ñ, ã). Note that if the next key entered after the accent is not a vowel or other letter, then you will get the apostrophe or other mark followed by the letter: 'n, ^p, ~d. If you want to enter just an apostrophe or other mark, enter the mark followed by the space key to get ' " ^ ~, etc. See the chart below for the keystroke combinations to obtain the desired accent mark.

DisadvantageYou must set the Keyboard layout property to US International.

Instructions for Windows 98You may need your Windows CD.

Select Start button, Settings, Control Panel

Double Click on KEYBOARD icon

Select Language tab

Make sure English is selected in the window

Click on properties button. Select United States International

Click OK to save

Click OK again to exit

Instructions for Windows 2000You may need your Windows CD.

Select Start button, Settings, Control Panel

Double Click on KEYBOARD icon

Select Input Locales tab

Click change

Click add

Check keyboard layout

Select United States International from the drop down box

Click OK to save, Click OK again to exit

Instructions for Windows XPMethod 1

If you are using the new Windows XP Start Button, click the Start Button, then click the Control Panel

Then double click the Regional and Language Options

Then Select the Languages Tab

Then Click Details, then Click Add, then check Keyboard Layout

Click the Keyboard Layout drop down box Choose English (United States): United States-International

Click Apply and then click OK

Now you have both the English and the International Keyboards installed, and you are able to switch back and forth between the English and International Keyboards. You may also set International as your Default input language and/or delete the US keyboard layout.

Method 2

If you are using the Windows XP Classic Start Button, click the Start Button, then Settings, then Control Panel

In the upper part of the "Text Services and Input Languages" window, open the drop-down menu called Default Input Language and choose English (United States) - United States-International as your default for all input fields

Now you have both the English and the International Keyboards installed. You are able to switch back and forth between the English and International Keyboards. Or you can set International as your Default input language and/or delete the US keyboard layout

To Obtain

Press Key, Release

Then Press Key

Alternate Key Strokes

á

' (apostrophe)

a

[ctrl] + [alt] + a

é

'

e

[ctrl] + [alt] + e

í

'

I

[ctrl] + [alt] + I

ó

'

o

[ctrl] + [alt] + o

ú

'

u

[ctrl] + [alt] + u

'

'

spacebar

ñ

~

n

[ctrl] + [alt] + n

õ

~

o

~

~

spacebar

ä

"

a

[ctrl] + [alt] + q

ë

"

e

[alt] + 0235

ï

"

I

[alt] + 0239

ö

"

o

[ctrl] + [alt] + p

ü

"

u

[ctrl] + [alt] + y

¿

Right Alt + ?

¡

Right Alt + !

à

`

a

[alt] + 0224

è

`

e

[alt] + 0232

ì

`

I

[alt] + 0236

ò

`

o

[alt] + 0242

ù

`

u

[alt] + 0249

`

`

spacebar

â

^

a

[alt] + 0226

ê

^

e

[alt] + 0234

î

^

I

[alt] + 0238

ô

^

o

[alt] + 0244

û

^

u

[alt] + 0251

^

^

spacebar

ç

'

c

[ctrl] + [alt] + ,

o

[alt] + 0156

æ

[ctrl] + [alt] + z

€

[ctrl] + [alt] + 5

«

[ctrl] + [shift] + <

»

[ctrl] + [shift] + >

Other special characters can be entered by using the Right-Alt key in combination with other keys (esp. useful for ¿, ¡ «, » ß). For Spanish, it might be easier to use the Right-Alt key for accents.

AdvantageYou choose the keystrokes you wish to use making it easier to remember.

DisadvantageOnly works in WordPerfect, and only works on the computer where you set it up.

Instructions for assigning shortcut keys for accented characters are as follows:

Click Tools Settings Customize Keyboards

Click the keyboard you want to edit, then click Edit, or click Create, type the name of a new keyboard, then click OK

Click the shortcut key you want to make an assignment to. If it already has an assignment, be sure you want to replace the current assignment with something else. Follow step 4, 5, 6, or 7 depending on what you want to assign

Repeat steps 2-7 as many times as you need to make the keyboard assignments you want

To get information on any option in this dialog box, click , then click the option.

Click "Allow assignment of character keys" if you want to make an assignment to an alphanumeric character such as the letter b or the number 5. Remember that if you make an assignment to a character, it will no longer function as a number or letter. For example, if you assign the Bold feature to the letter b, pressing that key will turn on Bold rather than typing "b."

To return to the default keyboard and menu for this application, press Ctrl + Alt + Shift + Backspace from a document window.